A row over the legal status of a deal struck by the prime minister to keep the UK in the EU was casting a shadow over Michael Gove’s future as lord chancellor as the Gazette went to press.

Gove (pictured) is the most senior cabinet minister to announce his intention of voting to leave the EU in the referendum on 23 June. He told the BBC that David Cameron’s deal with EU leaders could be overturned by the European Court of Justice. Attorney general Jeremy Wright said the deal was ‘irreversible’.

Press reports quoted unnamed ministers as saying that the disagreement made Gove’s position as lord chancellor untenable.